Systems and methods for measuring ciliary muscle activity

Abstract

Systems and methods for non-invasively assessing ciliary muscle accommodative potential in phakic eyes may include receiving a plurality of signals generated by a plurality of bipolar electrodes during a ciliary muscle assessment procedure, each of the plurality of signals indicating an electrical field associated with a patient's ciliary muscle, and analyzing the signals to evaluate the patient's ciliary muscle accommodative potential.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for analyzing a ciliary muscle accommodative potential in a patient, performed in a computer, comprising:
 receiving a plurality of signals generated by a plurality of bipolar electrodes in response to ciliary muscle activity, the plurality of bipolar electrodes comprising a plurality of concentric rings each of the plurality of concentric rings comprises a plurality of segments; and 
 analyzing the received signals to evaluate the ciliary muscle accommodative potential, the analyzing comprising at least one of:
 summing the received signals to identify a subset of signals which correspond to a subset of the pluralities of segments of the concentric rings aligned with the ciliary muscle; 
 averaging the received signals to identify the subset of signals which correspond to the subset of the pluralities of segments of the concentric rings aligned with the ciliary muscle; or 
 comparing each of the received signals to one of (a) upper and lower thresholds, (b) a mean of the received signals, or (c) a median of the received signals to identify the subset of signals which correspond to the subset of the pluralities of segments of the concentric rings aligned with the ciliary muscle. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising providing a contact lens to be applied to a patient's eye, the contact lens comprising the plurality of bipolar electrodes. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein evaluating the ciliary muscle accommodative potential comprises comparing at least one of the summed received signals or the averaged received signals to a predetermined value. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein evaluating the ciliary muscle accommodative potential comprises detecting changes in the plurality of signals received, as the ciliary muscle changes a focusing power to focus on one or more targets at different distances. 
     
     
       5. An ophthalmic system, comprising:
 a contact lens configured to contact a surface of a patient's eye, the contact lens comprising a plurality of bipolar electrodes comprising a plurality of concentric rings, each concentric ring comprises a plurality of segments; and 
 one or more processors and a memory comprising instructions that are operable, when executed by the one or more processors, to:
 receive a plurality of signals generated by the plurality of bipolar electrodes during a ciliary muscle assessment procedure; and 
 analyze the received signals to evaluate a ciliary muscle accommodative potential, the analyzing comprising at least one of:
 summing the received signals to identify a subset of signals which correspond to a subset of the pluralities of segments of the concentric rings aligned with the ciliary muscle; 
 averaging the received signals to identify the subset of signals which correspond to the subset of the pluralities of segments of the concentric rings aligned with the ciliary muscle; or 
 comparing each of the received signals to one of (a) upper and lower thresholds, (b) a mean of the received signals, or (c) a median of the received signals to identify the subset of signals which correspond to the subset of the pluralities of segments of the concentric rings aligned with the ciliary muscle; and 
 
 a display communicatively coupled to the processor and configured to display a calculated value associated with the ciliary muscle accommodative potential. 
 
 
     
     
       6. The system of  claim 5 , wherein summing the received signals comprises summing a first signal of the subset of signals generated by a first segment and a second signal of the subset of signals generated by a second segment. 
     
     
       7. The system of  claim 5 , wherein the instructions are operable, when executed by the one or more processors, to compare at least one of the summed received signals or the averaged received signals to a predetermined value to evaluate the ciliary muscle accommodative potential. 
     
     
       8. The system of  claim 5 , wherein the plurality of concentric rings comprises at least three concentric rings.